Venetian blind



Jan. 7,, 1958' B. WALKER v 2,818,921

VENETIAN BLIND Filed Feb. 20, 1956 2/ H 270- 5 INVENTOR.

VENETIAN BLIND Brooks Walker, San Francisco, Calif Application February20, 1956, Serial No. 566,566

Claims. (Cl; low-16$) This invention pertains to a Venetian blind andparticularly to a head rail made of wood and nesting therein a smalldiameter tilt rod on which the looped ends of the ladder tape hang tosupport. Tilt control is provided by rotating the tilt rod under thelooped end of the ladder tape sides in order to raise one side of theladder tape and lower the other or vice versa, depending on thedirection of tilt used. The tilt is controlled by tilt cords wound onthe tilt rod and anchored at the center of a multiplicity of turns ofthe tilt cord around the tilt rod.

A feature of the invention is the great simplicity in which a head railis formed of a piece of wood about 1" X 3" with a groove in one wideface between the edges adapted to receive the tilt rod, its locatingwashers and retaining brackets.

Another feature is the novel type of lift cord pulley support usedherein, wherein a bracket is stamped from sheet metal, the centersection being of a width equal to the width of the lift cord pulley,having side members bent down at each side to form supports for the liftcord pulley and an ear at one end, each said member adapted to form asupport from the tilt rod for the lift cord pulley support bracket insuch a manner that said bracket can be snapped onto the tilt rod withthe supporting ears, one on each side of the washers at each side of theladder tape edges where the ladder tape is supported by the tilt rod.This same bracket, used at each lift cord turn pulley, is inexpensive,universal.

The blind can be assembled on the tilt rod with tapes, lift cords,slats, cord lock, tilt cord, etc., and then secured to the read rail tocomplete the assembly, or the head rail can be secured to the windowframe or opening and then the blind hanging on the tilt rod can besecured to the head board to complete the window installation.

Other features of this invention will be more particularly pointed outin the accompanying drawings, specification, and claims.

I have illustrated my invention by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a Venetian blind partly cut away showingone form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken at sec. 2--2 of Fig. 1, showing thetop portion of the blind only.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken just inside of the lift cord pulleysupport at the left ladder tape of Fig. 1 showing only a portion of thetop of the blind.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cut away end section, showing a portion of thehead rail, taken just to the left of the tilt cords, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation section taken inside the tilt cordsat the left of the head rail, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged end view of the head rail and associated partsonly as would be seen by looking at the head rail from the left of Fig.1.

in all figures like numerals of reference refer to corresponding parts.

nited States Patent 0 2,818,921 Patented Jan. 7, 1958 In Figs. 1 through6 I have shown a Venetian blind with a head rail 10. A tilt rod 20 isnested in a groove 10 formed in the head rail. The tilt rod 20 iscentered in the groove by washers 21a which may be split and clampedonto the tilt rod 20 or be snapped into suitable grooves in tilt rod 20to secure them in location on the tilt rod 2t) relative to its length atsuch appropriate locations as on both sides of support bracket 11, asshown in Figs. 5 and 6 or at each side of ladder tapes 31, as shown inFig. 3.

Ladder tapes 31 and 30 support slats 5 on ladder rungs such as 310. Thetop slat has clips 7 secured to top cross rung 31a to keep top slat Sfrom climbing up the sides of the ladder sides when tilted in eitherdirection and still allow top ladder rung to straighten out when fullytilted in either direction by clips 7 sliding on top slat 5, all asshown in my copending U. S. application, Ser. No. 513,219, entitledVenetian Blind, filed June 6, 1955, now U. S. Patent 2,771,135 issuedNovember 20, 1956.

Slats 5 are raised and lowered by lift cords 50 which run betweenstaggered ladder rungs, such as 31a, through route holes in slats 5,over pulleys, such as 26, behind each ladder tape just below tilt rod20, then through cord lock 12, swung from the tilt rod 20, and down tothe loop where the operator can reach it.

A fascia 9 can be clamped or secured to head board 10 by clips, such as6.

Lift cord pulleys 26 are supported on brackets 25 formed from stampedmetal with two sides bent down to form the supports for the pivot orpulley 26 and with an ear extending outwardly and upwardly at each sideof the ladder tape and bent back downwardly to engage over the tilt rodZll to support the pulley from the tilt rod 20 at the outside of thewashers clamped to red 2d at each side of the loop at the top of eachladder tape 31 and B ll respectively. Support bracket 11 is formed by awire with looped ends and secured to head board by screws 11a betweenlocating washers 21.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, manychanges in construction and widely differing embodiments andapplications of the invention will suggest themselves without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and thedescription herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be inany sense limiting.

I claim as my invention:

1. A Venetian blind, including a head rail, said head rail having alongitudinally extending downwardly facing groove formed therein, a tiltrod rotatably mounted in said groove, means for rotating said tilt rod,washers fitted transversely into said groove and centering said tilt rodtherein, ladder tapes mounted on said tilt rod and having spaced rungs,slats supported by said ladder tapes, lift cords, turn pulleys for saidlift cords, a lift cord turn pulley bracket for each turn pulley, saidturn pulley bracket having a pair of upwardly extending ears spaced tolie on either side of a ladder tape and each having a down turnedportion adapted loosely to engage said tilt rod.

2. The structure according to claim 1 wherein one of said washers isadjacent each of said ears.

3. A Venetian blind including a lift cord, a ladder tape adjacent eitheredge of said blind, a tilt rod, said ladder tape having its side membersjoined at one end to and looped about said tilt rod, a lift cord pulleysupport comprising a stamping having two side members bent over andextending downwardly to support a lift pulley therebetween, an upwardlyextending ear attached to each side member, said ear being bentdownwardly and adapted to engage loosely over said tilt rod to form aswinging support for said pulley, said ears being spaced to lie ateither side of a ladder tape, a pulley being located under each laddertape loop.

4. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the means for rotatingsaid tilt rod comprises a flexible member anchored intermediate its endsto said tilt rod, said flexible member being wound about said tilt rod aplurality of turns, in the same direction, at either side of the pointof attachment, whereby the tilt rod may be turned more than a completerevolution in either direction.

5. In a Venetian blind having a head rail provided with a longitudinallyextending downwardly facing groove therein, a longitudinally extendingtilt rod rotatably mounted in the groove, and ladder tapes mounted onthe tilt rod, the improvement which comprises a lift cord pulleyassociated with each ladder tape, means for supporting said pulley fromthe tilt rod, said means comprising a pair of staggered down turned sideframe members for supporting the lift cord pulley, an ear extendingupwardly from each side member, each ear having a downwardly turnedportion loosely embracing the tilt rod, said ears being spaced so as tolie beyond and at either edge of a ladder tape.

Albrecht Oct. 22, 1946 Walker Nov. 3, 1953

